Might as well do some noms now that I have a solid grasp on the meta.
from
A to
A+
I feel that Goodra is easily a top tier threat, above the likes of mons like Salazzle and Barraskewda, due to it's potent Dragon STAB, access to practically perfect coverage in Fire Blast and Sludge Wave, and insane splashability in the amount of viable sets it can run, combined with solid bulk and a great defensive typing. Yes, it lacks the ability to pivot like Dragalge and has around 3/4 of the power compared to Dragalge on a standard Specs set, but I would argue that its aforementioned versatility, bulk, and coverage more than makes up for the power it lacks. It's also worth noting that these two form an amazing offensive core, being able to sufficiently threaten almost all of the tier between their STAB moves and coverage.
from
A to
A-/B+
This meta is not kind to Salazzle. The SubToxic set suffers from an increase in hazards, forcing it to take a sizeable chunk of its health to maybe force a switch again something that doesn't like Fire moves, and even once it gets the Sub up and starts using the threat of an unblockable Toxic, rockers such as Rhyperior and Gigalith heavily threaten it. Rock Blast has seen an uptick in usage on both, and Sand Stream negates Black Sludge recovery that SubToxic Salazzle relies on. There are many more switch ins to the SubToxic variant that directly hinders its viablity, such as clerics like Vaporeon, where matchups become heavily prediction reliant but still end up losing in the long run due to Salazzle's slow recovery. But the Offensive NP sets have been hit even harder by the shifts. Defensively, new checks such as Rhyperior, Gigalith, and Dragalge are extremely popular and viable, resisting both of Salazzle's STABs (although Dragalge isn't particularly fond of a Dragon Pulse), and are able to take advantage of it, either by setting Rocks unopposed or pivoting into an offensive check. Speaking of offensive checks, Barraskewda isn't the best switch-in but OHKOs Salazzle with Flip Turn, gaining momentum while disposing of it, while Scarfed Psychics and mons with EQ are also popular and threaten it equally. The only mons either Salazzle's do well against against in A and A+ are non-Scarf Rotom-Mow, non-TWave Klefki, Bewear, and Coopperjah (special mention goes to Occa Berry variants with 252 HP/160 SpD which can serve as an emergency check at full health even after Rocks but I'm not sure if those are viable), but is it really worth having literally every other mon in those rankings threaten you either defensively like Mantine and Rhyperior, or offensively like Barraskewda and Dragalge? I don't think so, which is why I'm advocating for a drop, possibly to B+ as struggling against most of the top tier mons in a metagame is a big deal. I know I've made Salazzle sound like crap, and in reality it's still pretty good, but hindered in a metagame where a lot is working against it and I feel it requires more team support than the other A ranks.
from
B to
B+
In my eyes, Gastrodon and Seismitoad are on equal levels of viablity. Both have similar stat spreads defensively (Gastro's 111/68/82 vs Seis' 105/75/75), both check the same things thanks to their typings and wide movepools, and both have a sizeable niche that should be considered when building a team. Seismitoad has access to the invaluable Stealth Rocks, a better speed tier, and slightly more offensive power, while Gastrodon has access to the equally invaluable Recover, allowing it to be a consistent defensive answer throughout a match, Storm Drain, which makes it a better Water check imo since it increases its offensive power instead of simply healing it like Seis, and Yawn, a surprise option that catches offensive answers off guard. Ultimately, neither is superior to the other as a whole, but I think a rise to Gastrodon is warranted at least a little.
from
B- to
C
I want to call them UR, but they very clearly have their niches. But if you think about them, are they really viable enough to warrant a slot in the same tier as Braviary, a versatile mon that can perform many offensive roles such as Scarf, Band, and Bulk Up pretty well, and Druddigon, a mon who will always get Rocks up with its solid bulk, power, and typing? I don't think so. Blastoise suffers from being outclassed in pretty much every area in terms of being a bulky Water type. No access to reliable recovery, a riveting movepool with options such as Toxic, Toxic, and Toxic to threaten other bulky Water types or defensive answers in general, and sometimes is simply death fodder against many of the top tier threats. Sure, it has Rapid Spin and Flip Turn, but the former isn't really that big of a niche to warrant a B- ranking, and whenever I see the latter on a Blastoise I just wonder why they aren't using Vaporeon or Milotic. Shell Smash sets similarly struggle to break through bulky Waters and are prone to be worn down with Toxic, hazards, and other damage from bulky mons that aren't 2HKOed. I do remember someone bringing up terrian mons with Pulse to solve this problem, but when you're dedicating this much support with an generally seen as outclassed mon to another generally seen as outclassed mon, I feel you're only showing it how weak it really is.
As for Sableye, Prankster is cool and all but what exactly does it do in practice? Let's imagine a scenario where a sweeper that can be burned sets up, and the player with the Sableye predicts this and switches into it. Now what? You can Encore it, but they can easily see through that and switch out into a top tier threat that does threaten Sableye, like Gardevoir or Dragalge. Will-O-Wisp is another option, but almost every good team will have Burn fodder (mons that aren't impacted significantly by the burn and would rather it than be badly poisoned or paralyzed). It also has Taunt to hinder defensive mons that would like to switch in, but they don't really care and most of them are running an attacking move to hit Sableye with. As for offensive options, an attack stat of 75 really doesn't do any favors for it, although Knock Off is a potent move to spam, so let's go with that. You've eliminated the item of a switch in, hope that you're not threatened, and switch out having provided your contribution to the match...even though the same sweeper can still sweep later or simply wait until its teammates have picked off the Sableye to sweep, which is very easy considering how almost every top tier can take advantage of it. Like Blastoise, I don't think it's worthy of a B- rank, but unlike Blastoise, it's not outclassed in its role (it's really the only "viable" Prankster user in the tier besides Klekfi who I kinda forgot about when making this comment), but simply does not do well at all in its role thanks to counterplay being common on teams.
I have no other nominations. I agree with most of placings here and especially the omission of a mon in S, as currently there is no centralizing meta-defining threat at RU's current state (keep your eye on Virizion though, don't be surprised if it gets rebanned), I just felt that there are some I personally disagreed with. Also, is it just me, or are there are also a handful of NUBL mons that are unranked? I'm not sure if that was on purpose and will be a trend going into the future (not ranking unviable NUBL mons), or was just forgotten.